Warmonument Anna Jacobapolder

The war memorial in Anna Jacobapolder (municipality of Tholen) is a natural stone gravestone, placed on a brick dais. Two commemorative stones have been built into it.

Year of construction

2008

Accessibility

Good

The top part of the memorial is in memory of Piet Avontuur, who died during a German assault on the night of 22/23 January 1945. For years the memorial stood in the Zuylen Cemetery in Breda. Last year Piet Avontuur was reburied at the Dutch Military Cemetery in Loenen. This happened almost simultaneously with a meeting of veterans of the Storm Troops of which Piet Avontuur was part, in Anna Jacobapolder.The Storm Troop veterans told former Colonel Joop Lodders what a pity it was that there was nothing in Anna Jacobapolder to commemorate their actions. The former Colonel teamed up with historian Jan Kempeneers of Sint - Philipsland and Jos van Alphen of Brabant and they gained the assistance of the municipality of Tholen. Breda-born Avontuur was a member of the resistance and the Storm Troops. With his fellow Storm Trooper van Rymenam he defused the dynamite under bridges. In fact he did so lightning fast with his quick hands. Through his actions he gained something of a reputation in the Storm Troops.A recent addition to the memorial is a marble commemorative plaque for the other six victims of the attack that night: three Poles, two British soldiers and a civilian, Karel Snijders.On this commemorative plaque the names of these victims:Falling with them during the German attack on the night of 22/23 January 1945:Prince Marie Andrzej PoniatowskiBronislaw PowalkaBoleslaw PodedwornyPercy Thomas BaughEric Francis BellKarel SnijdersJan van Oerle, another member of the Storm Troops with Avontuur, is unbelievably happy that the Memorial has gained a place. “There were young people who fell during those actions and they must not be forgotten”. In Breda there is a street named after Piet Avontuur.